Triple-Digit Year-On-Year Growth Fuels ‘Extremely Promising’ Start To Peaks For dnata Travel Group’s B2B Brands

Friday, Jan 06, 2023 0

With less than a week since they went live, dnata Travel Group’s B2B Peaks campaigns are driving a triple-digit year-on-year growth in bookings and a 50% increase in the number of calls from agents compared to the same period in 2022 – indeed, more calls are being handled each day, with the total volume on a par with levels not seen since before the pandemic.

Demand is increasing across all four B2B brands. Bookings for the US – particularly the West Coast and Caribbean are accounting for nearly half of those taken by Gold Medal, whose ‘Worldwide Holiday Sale’ went live on 3rd January. Across the board, the brand is enjoying a triple-digit uptick in bookings compared to this time last year, with Florida, Thailand, Dubai, New York and Mauritius among other popular destinations.

Pure Luxury’s ‘Travel Trends 2023’ campaign has helped to fuel a 50% year on year increase in sales, with Dubai, the Maldives, Barbados, Spain and Bali it’s most in-demand destinations since it launched on the 3rd January.

The Cruise Plus ‘Worldwide Sale’ launched just yesterday, but the brand has started the year building further on momentum established during a very strong 2022. Bookings have increased by over 400% verses prior year, with the most popular itineraries taking in Florida and the Caribbean, and Canada and Alaska – although European cruises are also proving popular, as well as those sailing around Japan. Average booking values for the brand are also +50%, with Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean, NCL and MSC proving to be the most in-demand cruise lines – with some eager travellers booking as far out as February 2024 already.

Finally, the investment made in expanding our expertise and capabilities in touring during 2022 – with the creation and training of a dedicated sales team, the recruitment of our Incredible Journeys Product & Commercial Manager, and membership of ATAS – is already paying real dividends. Incredible Journeys has already surpassed what was booked in January 2022 in just three days of trading, and the brand is taking double the number of calls from agents eager to book their clients. Demand is strongest for South America with 50% of sales, followed by Australia, Africa and India.

A notable trend emerging even during the early days of the peaks period is one of late bookings, with both Gold Medal and Pure Luxury seeing January and February 2023 among their most popular departure months (20% and 30% of departures for new bookings taken, respectively).

Dnata Travel Group B2B Managing Director, Simon Applebaum, comments: “All of our brands are enjoying an extremely promising start to the Peak sales period. The campaigns we have launched are our most extensive ever and its fantastic to see all the hard work that the team put in to pulling them together pay off.

“The investment we’ve made in recruiting and training up our contact centre team over the last 12 months is also making a big difference. We have a team of over 100 agents processing volumes of calls each day that we’ve not seen since before the pandemic, so wait times are also the lowest they’ve been for several years as well.”

Across all four brands, agents have access to an unrivalled range of incentives and rewards to excite and entice them to book. For example, the Gold Medal Grand Giveaway agents who make a package booking with the brand until 28th February 2023 can win £1,000 Farebank Rewards each week, to spend how they please, and they can earn double Farebank Rewards on all Gold Medal package bookings made until 31st January 2023, plus £10 per business class flight. Agents booking with Pure Luxury during the campaign period can win one of 12 places on an ultra-luxury FAM trip in association with Qatar Airways and One&Only Resorts, and all package bookings made with Pure Luxury until 28th February 2023 will also be entered into a weekly prize draw to win a Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser. Cruise Plus and Pure Luxury agents now also benefit from a simplified Farebank Rewards model, with the latter now able to earn up to £1,500 per booking.

Applebaum continues: “We’re offering a choice of exciting fam trip incentives and enhanced Farebank rewards which cannot be beaten. Throughout the coming weeks, agents should watch also out for spot prizes and rewards as we thank them for supporting us in doing what we do best – helping them to sell holidays so their customers can explore the world!”